


O Death

by ObeyDontStray



Category: Stranger Things - Fandom
Genre: Accident, Death, F/M, Gore, Violence, corpse, scene of the accident
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-20
Updated: 2017-10-20
Packaged: 2019-01-20 05:05:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12425589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObeyDontStray/pseuds/ObeyDontStray
Summary: When Jim finds out Chrissy Carpenter has been killed, Joyce is determined to be a support for him. From a prompt requested by StarmaamMke on tumblr!





	O Death

**Author's Note:**

  * For [StarMaamMke](https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarMaamMke/gifts).



Joyce was perched on the corner of Jim's desk, legs crossed and the top one swinging. "You're turning down a cup of coffee at the diner?" She asked, just a little bit hurt. 

"I can't right now Joycie, I got work to do." 

"And since when have you had actual work to do since we got Will back?" 

He stopped rifling through the paperwork in his side drawer and swiveled his chair in her direction. 

"There's been an accident." Her eyes widened. "You think it was the mon-" he gave her a serious look with his pointer finger pressed over his lips. "No. Car versus train. Chrissy Carpenter."

"Are you going to see the crime scene? I'm going with you!" He glared at her. "No, you're not."

-  
After much debate and, as per usual, Hopper giving in, he and Joyce pulled up near the train tracks. They met with Cal just outside the taped off scene. 

Cal looked a little green around the gills with his eyes trained on the ground. "Chief, you knew Chrissy pretty well, didn't you?" He asked. "It's pretty gruesome." 

Joyce looked up into Hopper's face, readying for whatever emotion might rise up in him. It was no secret that he and Chrissy had briefly rekindled their high school fling about two years ago. True to their form, things ended nasty again. She'd barely spoken to him since. 

Jim's face went taunt but unreadable of any recognizable emotion. It occurred to Joyce that was probably a look he had developed as a big city cop, schooling his emotions. "Stay here." He told Joyce, knowing very well she wouldn't listen. 

-  
Jim strode past Powell interviewing the conductor of the train. He caught only a clip of the conversation. "I think the car was inoperable, the lights were off. And the car is black and it was so dark. I just didn't see her in time." He said sadly. 

Jim walked past with big strides, causing Joyce to nearly have to run to keep up with his pace. He stopped just outside the crumpled up Chevy. 

Chrissy lay face down half in and half out of the car, her badly damaged arms splayed out on the gravel in a pool of blood. Her once beautiful blonde hair was barely recognizable in the blood and her face...her face was unrecognizable. Chunks of viscera down the tracks made it evident the train had skidded her car forward, scraping her downcast face across the tracks. 

Jim turned away, clamping his eyes shut tight before he started walking away. When he realized Joyce wasn't behind him he wheeled around to see her over the body. "Joyce, the fuck? Please don't touch the human remains!" 

He realized she had been attempting to pull Chrissy's dress down. In the violence of the accident, it had draped up around Chrissy's waist and exposed her. 

"Joyce the scene hasn't been photographed. I mean we know what happened but we still have to do an investigation-"

"Really? What difference does her dress arrangement mean? I would hope that if I died tomorrow and ended up with my business out in the world, you would do the right thing and cover me up. Afford the poor woman some modesty in death. With all you men about-" 

He swallowed hard. "Alright, alright. I see your point. Carry on." 

Joyce steeled herself and stepped around the gore. Ever scenario from every horror movie she had ever seen involving a dead body moving ran through her mind. She managed to find a scrap of fabric that wasn't bloody and yanked the dress down. She then jumped back and ran from the body to Hopper. She caught him unprepared and nearly tackled him over when she wrapped her arms around his waist. 

He kept walking, leading her a good distance from the wreck before he leaned against a tree and pulled her against his chest. "I tried to tell you not to come." She buried her face in his chest. "I came for you, I thought I could be of some comfort. I didn't know it would be this...gory. You deal with this kind of stuff much?" She asked, looking up his chest and into his face. 

"A good bit in Indianapolis. But it's always harder when it's someone you know. Especially...intimately." Her grip tightened on his waist. "That was a pretty noble thing you did, Joyce. You and Chrissy never were exactly friendly." 

"I would have done it for anyone. And she was okay, I just didn't like who she dated back in high school." She teased darkly, patting Hop's lower back. 

"You always were the jealous type." He said, giving a light chuckle. "Tell Cal to give you a ride back to your car. He needs some air anyway. We're going to be here a while." 

"Are you going to be okay?" She asked, looking back up into his face. "Believe it or not, I've seen worse." He said, a jaded tint to his voice. He bent low to brush his lips against her hair. "I'll be okay." 

She buried her face in his chest one more time. "Stay with me tonight. I'll keep the whiskey cold for you." He nodded. "Give me something to look forward to." He kissed her hair again. "Go home, Joycie. This is no place for you." She nodded and squeezed him one more time before she turned and walked back to Callahan.


End file.
